We still may be more than three months away from the start of the 2018 NRL season but preparations are in full swing here at Wests Tigers. We’ve had players back in training for about a month now and the side is progressing well under the watchful eye of Ivan Cleary and his coaching team.

2018 marks one of the biggest playing roster shake-ups in the club’s history. I’m delighted with how seamlessly the new players and their families have settled into their new home here at Wests Tigers. The likes of Josh Reynolds, Ben Matulino, Chris McQueen, Robbie Rochow, Corey Thompson, Tyson Gamble and Pita Godinet are already making a valuable contribution to this great club and we’re looking forward to their careers going to another level at Wests Tigers.

It’s also been great to see a few old faces returning home. We all know what an incredibly talented player Brett Hodgson was. I think we are going to be equally as impressed with his coaching abilities as he leads the ISP squad and is also playing a key role in the NRL team as well. It’s also great to have Benji back and he’s already having a positive impact on and off the training field. In the coming weeks we’ll see our World Cup stars return to training, including a number of new faces in Russell Packer and Taane Milne.

Our coaching staff have all commented on how impressed they are with the shape that the players returned to training in. It was impressive to see the work they put in during their break and shows a strong level of commitment. They all understand what is required and that they have the opportunity to be a part of something truly special this season and in the years to come. While I won’t go into any specifics I’m happy to say that a number of personal bests have been broken already at this early stage of the pre-season.

I’d like to take this chance to thank all of you for committing to the club for 2018. It’s great to see that we already have more than 10,000 Members, which is a record for the club at this stage of the year. We have a great mix of new and returning Members and we look forward to having you all as a part of the club for the years to come. There’s still plenty of room on the bus so I encourage you to invite your friends, family and co-workers to get on board. I’m certain it’s going to be a fun and rewarding ride.

The highlight of the pre-season for me so far was the induction night we held at Wests Ashfield Leagues club for our staff, players and their families. We are a club rich in history and diversity. It was great to be able to give players, old and new, an insight into that proud past by debuting a special heritage video. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out I highly recommend you do here. It features interviews from some of the greatest players this club has ever produced. And will give you tremendous insight into what we are trying to achieve at this club – not just on the field, but as an inclusive culture that every fan is encouraged to be a part of.

It’s been great to see that while there has been a lot of work happening in our football department there has been just as much progress with our commercial team, with a number of new Corporate Partners joining us for the year ahead. We welcomed UTech to the club as a Platinum Partner. UTech are a leading Sydney commercial electrical contractor and will feature on our playing shorts in 2018.

The club was also proud to announce that Austbrokers Canberra have joined Wests Tigers as Coaches Sponsor for the coming two years. As well as partnering with Head Coach Ivan Cleary Austbrokers Canberra will support Wests Tigers’ community programs. We also announced that MSR Services Australia have extended their partnership with the club for a further two seasons and we look forward to continuing to build our relationship with the MSR Services Australia team.

Rounding out a busy period for our corporate team was news that we have welcomed the following new partners to Wests Tigers; Secom Technology, BCA National, DJK Excavations, Sydney Boulevard Hotel, Westpoint Formwork, Bluetongue Homes, TLH Group and Body Science. Welcome all!

The last month has also seen a lot of activity in our community department with a number of programs being run across our footprint. Earlier this month we were proud to hold our second annual Disability Day at the Michael Clarke Centre in Liverpool that helped celebrate the International Day of People Living with a Disability. The day was designed to give a special group of fans an insight into life as an NRL player, and showcased the Centre's facilities and the opportunities available for people with a disability. Check out the highlights here. We also launched the Lomandra-Berne Cup which was the result of a six week program working with students who attend two behaviour schools. The program showed the power of physical activity and rugby league in producing positive outcomes for these children.

Wests Tigers are also proud to have launched a new program providing support and assistance for students with a disability. The Wests Tigers Celebrating Varying Abilities Program was launched at Sarah Redfern Public School in Minto and has been designed to reduce the prevalence of bullying towards students with a disability while encouraging students to recognise and celebrate differences in students. It showcases the talent and potential of individuals living with a disability while also providing positive role models for students. You can find out more about the program here.

We’ve had plenty of interest in our proposed Centre of Excellence in recent months and I wanted to let you know that it remains a work in progress. We are continuing to work with all levels of Government. I can’t provide a definite timeframe at this stage but rest assured that everything possible is being done to turn the plan into reality.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Christmas and New Years and I look forward to seeing you at Wests Tigers games and events throughout 2018.

The COE is truly a pipe dream..the powers to be at our club can not make hard decisions about our home grounds so next season we have 6 home grounds .A COE certainly would be a game changer but maybe settling and deciding on one home ground might be a start but I will not be holding my breath on both case .

Don't see how a home ground and COE have any connection. We have far more valid claims for funding than almost every other club in the league, especially compared to the likes of the Roosters and Souths who already have state of the art facilities!

Don't see how a home ground and COE have any connection. We have far more valid claims for funding than almost every other club in the league, especially compared to the likes of the Roosters and Souths who already have state of the art facilities!

The funding of the stadiums and COEs was coming fro. the same pool of money. I can see why the govt would be willing to give money to clubs that will be full-time tensnts at those stadiums.

Don't see how a home ground and COE have any connection. We have far more valid claims for funding than almost every other club in the league, especially compared to the likes of the Roosters and Souths who already have state of the art facilities!

The funding of the stadiums and COEs was coming fro. the same pool of money. I can see why the govt would be willing to give money to clubs that will be full-time tensnts at those stadiums.

I sure don't. Seems like double dipping to me!

"Here's a brand spanking new stadium for you to use. Oh and here's an extra 10 million bucks to put towards a COE wherever you want to put it."

"Meanwhile you other guys get nothing"

Something doesn't seem remotely fair about that and no the COE should have absolutely nothing to do with stadiums, and everything to do with community facilities

Don't see how a home ground and COE have any connection. We have far more valid claims for funding than almost every other club in the league, especially compared to the likes of the Roosters and Souths who already have state of the art facilities!

The funding of the stadiums and COEs was coming fro. the same pool of money. I can see why the govt would be willing to give money to clubs that will be full-time tensnts at those stadiums.

I sure don't. Seems like double dipping to me!

"Here's a brand spanking new stadium for you to use. Oh and here's an extra 10 million bucks to put towards a COE wherever you want to put it."

"Meanwhile you other guys get nothing"

Something doesn't seem remotely fair about that and no the COE should have absolutely nothing to do with stadiums, and everything to do with community facilities

The stadiums are there for us to use aswell. Were just too dumb to do it.

Don't see how a home ground and COE have any connection. We have far more valid claims for funding than almost every other club in the league, especially compared to the likes of the Roosters and Souths who already have state of the art facilities!

The funding of the stadiums and COEs was coming fro. the same pool of money. I can see why the govt would be willing to give money to clubs that will be full-time tensnts at those stadiums.

I sure don't. Seems like double dipping to me!

"Here's a brand spanking new stadium for you to use. Oh and here's an extra 10 million bucks to put towards a COE wherever you want to put it."

"Meanwhile you other guys get nothing"

Something doesn't seem remotely fair about that and no the COE should have absolutely nothing to do with stadiums, and everything to do with community facilities

The stadiums are there for us to use aswell. Were just too dumb to do it.

Well we are using one of the stadiums. Manly and Newcastle aren't using either yet they get the free cash?

And we've got a link with PCYC to integrate our COE with the community and other clubs are basically making world class private facilities.

"Here's a brand spanking new stadium for you to use. Oh and here's an extra 10 million bucks to put towards a COE wherever you want to put it."

"Meanwhile you other guys get nothing"

Something doesn't seem remotely fair about that and no the COE should have absolutely nothing to do with stadiums, and everything to do with community facilities

The stadiums are there for us to use aswell. Were just too dumb to do it.

Well we are using one of the stadiums. Manly and Newcastle aren't using either yet they get the free cash?

And we've got a link with PCYC to integrate our COE with the community and other clubs are basically making world class private facilities.

The whole thing stinks

Maybe our proposal stank.

It's a very real possibility.

"This club means a lot to me and I really love this club, I love playing here, I love playing with all of the boys, it's what I've known for pretty much all of my life and I'm happy to be here." - Luke Brooks.

It is not about what you know or what you are willing to build it is the old adage It Is Who You Know plain and simple .. the power brokers relate to the Tigers as nomads .. I keep harping on about this subject the TIGERS have to put down roots and finally play out of one ground ..IMO nothing will change the mindset of the big end of town until this happens.

I’d agree about the one home ground bit. But I think a big part of our problems as a club is that we are innefective as an NRL club, both most of the fans as well as Clubs seem to think of us as not essential to the Nrl, I know that the in junior club that I’m involved in, a lot think that way.
,
My son still has a lot of mates in several Nrl clubs, and this subject has come up frequently whenever a few of them get together.
He’s been a Tigers supporter since he could walk, but has stopped defending them over the last few years, not because of losing, but because he has started to agree with the comments about the running of the club
Maybe the more favoured clubs are looked upon more favourably because they are perceived as being more successful on a regular basis, and look like a better investment.
We’re all hoping that the club can climb out of the hole that it’s dug itself, and get higher up on the ladder, and even more importantly, Stay There!!
There’s a whole lot of pressure on Cleary for a better season,both from supporters and the club itself.
Hopefully he will be as good as we want him to be.
I think the club has a fair way to go before people will be willing to throw money at it like they do at some other clubs.
We can only hope,

I’d agree about the one home ground bit. But I think a big part of our problems as a club is that we are innefective as an NRL club, both most of the fans as well as Clubs seem to think of us as not essential to the Nrl, I know that the in junior club that I’m involved in, a lot think that way.
,
My son still has a lot of mates in several Nrl clubs, and this subject has come up frequently whenever a few of them get together.
He’s been a Tigers supporter since he could walk, but has stopped defending them over the last few years, not because of losing, but because he has started to agree with the comments about the running of the club
Maybe the more favoured clubs are looked upon more favourably because they are perceived as being more successful on a regular basis, and look like a better investment.
We’re all hoping that the club can climb out of the hole that it’s dug itself, and get higher up on the ladder, and even more importantly, Stay There!!
There’s a whole lot of pressure on Cleary for a better season,both from supporters and the club itself.
Hopefully he will be as good as we want him to be.
I think the club has a fair way to go before people will be willing to throw money at it like they do at some other clubs.
We can only hope,

Well GCT,I completely agree with your post...the one main point I will totally stand by is the hole the club has dug itself in,over the years we have been so badly managed that we now find ourselves in the situation we are in because of that poor management..since our inception we have spent poorly,overspent on players and offered huge money to juniors without NRL experience..can we overcome this huge hurdle placed infront of us?of course we can,but from now on the whole club has to be very smart on how they do things,getting Ivan on board was one of the best things they have done and now it must start becoming a business and a quality NRL side to even get close to finals football.
This year is the rise of the Tigers,but they must become a complete professional outfit on the field and off the field..